Bacterias. Dance, choreographer and director: Andrés Marín. Guitar and electronics: Raúl Cantizano. Guitar: Salvador Gutiérrez. Guest singer: José Valencia. Jueves Flamencos de Cajasol. Thursday, April 11, 2019. Full house.
Sara Arguijo
First of all let it be said that Andrés Marín interests me even when I’m not convinced by a show of his. Sometimes because he surprises me, other times because he makes me angry, often because he questions me and also because he is disconcerting, entertaining, moving or annoying.
His dancing is a pulse that transcends the physical and makes you go beyond merely liking. As if in each moment of each work he stands before the mirror of his unshakable beliefs and values and strives to drag the spectator along this route to conquered assurance and welcome uncertainty. Inviting us to observe, but without butting in.
Which is why we celebrate the “artistic disturbance” of these “Bacterias” that move freely through the Cajasol theater and infect us with interrogatives with unusual unexpected answers. In other words, on this small difficult stage, unrecognizable here due to his open bare disposition, Marín appeared luminous, expansive and in top form. Enjoying this game without rules or limitations in which one small distraction, and you’re lost.
Thus, the captivating phrases of Salvador Gutiérrez, the caressing disturbing notes of Raúl Cantizano and the hypnotic extreme voice of José Valencia (all three equally talented and necessary) carried the artist to the limits, surprising with his clean, scrupulous epicentric dancing, his spatial control, his precise turns, his unusual resources and the absolute command of his body, always in that contained tension that never seems forced or artificial. So “Bacterias” is a complete 360º circle through the flamenco in which this Seville dancer updates the classic repertoire (seguiriya, soleares, taranta, cantiñas, bulerías…) in order to manipulate it at will. He remembers his references (from Tomás Pavón to Mairena) to submit them to his necessary contemporary perspective. And he ends with a finale that is also a beginning. Because as seen through the microscope, flamenco and its verdicts can be equally fascinating and ridiculous. “This isn’t flamenco, and isn’t anything at all” said one person before leaving. As stated.
Photo gallery: Remedios Malvarez
